Sunday, February 05, 2012

Made a treasury listing a bunch of my handmade Valentine goodies from the Cottage---and added a little coupon bonus for my blog friends! I'll promise to mail out ASAP (usually same day or early next morning). Details on page.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

I always feel bad for my family during my chemo down-time. I basically can't do much of anything for about 8-10 days after chemo, so my family has to do the brunt of the shopping and cooking and laundry for themselves. It isn't a bad thing really, Mark and I made sure to raise our kids to be able to do all those things for themselves (no way I would send my kids out into the world without those skills!) but, I'm the kind of Mom who likes to do those things for their family. Especially the cooking. Anyways, today I decided to bake a batch of cookies to last through the first few days. At church on Sunday, we had coffee and snacks afterwards and someone brought the most scrummy cookies---all buttery, coconutty, toffee goodness! Yummm. I came straight home and hit the computer to see if I could find a recipe for those ....this is what I found on the Land o' Lakes website.

***I also added 3/4 c. of chopped walnuts to the coconut when I was toasting it.....I just really like nuts in my cookies.They are absolutely delish---both crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. I'd highly recommend them I think I'll bring some along for the nurses in the Cancer Center tomorrow....they deserve a little treat!! Such wonderful ladies there.♥If you have a minute, say a prayer for me...I like to bring a few prayers with me into chemo!! Thanks and God Bless You ♥

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I got this cutie in an email today....I'm afraid that I cannot honor the original writer, but it's too cute not to share! If anyone does know the author, I'd be more than happy to share that knowledge with everyone :o)

Just in case ya didn't know...

Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858 and was originally settled by a lost tribe of Norwegians seeking refuge from the searing heat of Wisconsin 's winters.

Minnesota gets it's name from the Sioux Indian word "mah-nee-soo-tah," meaning, "No, really... They eat fish soaked in lye."

The state song of Minnesota is "Someday the Vikings will... Aw, never mind."

Madison, Minnesota is known as "the lutefisk capital of the world." Avoid this city at all costs.

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was set in Minneapolis , Minnesota , and was Mary's first real acting job since leaving the "Dick van Dyke Show. The show about a single woman's struggle to find happiness in the big city was originally titled "Life Without Dick," but that was changed for some reason.

Downtown Minneapolis has an enclosed skyway system covering 52 blocks, allowing people to live, work, eat, and sleep without ever going outside. The only downside to this is that a Norwegian occasionally turns up missing.

Cartoonist Charles M. Shultz was born in Minneapolis , Minnesota and grew up in St. Paul. He was the only artist to accurately depict the perfectly circular heads of Minnesota natives.

The Hormel Company of Austin , Minnesota produces 6 million cans of Spam a year, even though no one actually eats it. Spam is a prized food in Japan & Hawaii--Spam sushi!!

Frank C. Mars, founder of the Mars Candy Co. was born in Newport, Minnesota . His 3 Musketeers candy bar originally contained three bars in one wrapper, each filled with a different flavor of nougat -chocolate, Spam and lutefisk.

Tonka trucks continue to be manufactured in Minnetonka, Minnesota, despite the thousands of GI Joe dolls killed by them annually in rollover accidents. No airbags, no seat belts. These things are deathtraps, I tell ya!

Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was raised at Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and was famous for writing the "Little House" series of books, as well as inventing the "Spam diet" which consists of looking at a plate of Spam until you lose your appetite. Much like the "lutefisk diet"

The snowmobile was invented in Roseau , Minnesota so as to allow families a means of attending 4th of July picnics

Minnesotans are almost indistinguishable from Wisconsinites. The only way to tell them apart is to ask if they voted for Mondale in '84.

Cold is a relative thing ya know....

At 65 degrees, Arizonans turn on the heat. People in Minnesota plant gardens.At 60, Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in Minnesota sunbathe.At 50, Italian & English cars won't start. People in Minnesota drive with the windows down..At 40, Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats. People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.At 35, New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it gets cold.At 20, People in Miami all die. Minnesotans close their windows.At 0, Californians fly away to Mexico . People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.At 10 below zero, Hollywood disintegrates. The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.At 20 below, Washington DC runs out of hot air. (Ya think? Nah.). People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.At 30 below, Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because they can't start the snowmobile.At 40 below, ALL atomic motion stops. People in Minnesota start saying..."Cold enough for ya, eh?"At 50 below, hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools will open 2 hours late.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Getting ready to take some product shots, and had to stop and smile at my little studio friends!! Aren't they sweet? The darling little black cat on the end is my Ralphy...a gift from the talented Theresia of StrawberriesandCream on Etsy.

Hello! This is a bit of a wider shot of what I look at when I sit on the craft side of my studio (the other side is for sewing, but it's so piled up with STUFF right now that I can't even look at it! lol) I'm always inspired by all the little goodies in those drawers and containers.

Lately I've been inspired by some wonderful old magazines and catalogs that I found while cleaning my studio (well, some might call it cleaning, or attempting to clean ...we'll just leave it at that! )! I usually start cleaning and then find something cool and have to stop and create something with it! You know, strike while the iron is HOT! (it's my excuse and I'm sticking with it). Like this great line drawing of two people dancing that I found in an old 1914 issue of Modern Priscilla magazine and this scalloped chipboard. Pretty cute, don't you think?

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Today I want to talk to you about one of my favorite craft room friends...freezer paper--which I will refer to as FP in this post (just cuz' I'm lazy!).

I use it A LOT in my crafting adventures and wanted to make sure that you all were aware of it's many charms!

What is it? It's a nice weight white paper that is coated with a thin layer of plastic on one side. Not to be confused with wax paper, which has wax on both sides. Sometimes it's a bit hard to find...but just go to your plastic wrap/tinfoil section and check the very bottom shelf and the uppermost top shelf...that's where I usually find it.

What is nice about the plastic side is that you can iron it onto many surfaces, and it just peels right off, slick as can be, when you are done using it! Another great thing is that it can be usually be used several times before the plastic wears off--so it's economical too!

Here are a few ways I use it in my everyday crafting:

1) Making templates

Just draw your pattern on the paper side of your FP (which you have traced or copied from another source..see tip #6) and iron it onto a piece of medium weight cardboard (cereal boxes work great for this)--cut out, and there you have a wonderful, reuseable template. Easy as pie.

You can also cut your freezer paper into regular sheet paper size and run it through your printer (making sure the printing is going to the paper side, not the shiny side) and this will enable you to get patterns from online into your hot little hands. It just saves a lot of tracing and re-drawing and gluing of patterns.

I haven't tried this yet, but you can also iron the FP to a piece of fabric that is cut into paper size and run it through the printer to print on fabric. I would think you would have to iron very carefully (no air bubbles) and make sure you don't have any loose threads.

2) Cutting things from FELT!

I think we all know how difficult it is to cut things from felt...trying to mark the patterns without distortion and even then to have to try and remove the markings when we are done cutting them out--this is perfect for this! Just draw all your patterns to the paper side of the FP and iron it onto your felt--cut out --and peel off the paper! You are left with perfect little pieces..Yeah!

Of course this would work well with fabric too--if you don't mind having raw edges on your project or if you will be satin stitching the edges...but this leads me to my next tip......

3) Making fabric appliques

Make FP pattern piece and iron it onto your applique fabric, cut out ***making sure to add a seam allowance all around for turning under***. Make little snips all around the seam allowance area of the applique (for turning curves and valleys) and turn your seam allowance to the back. I like to spray on some heavy starch before beginning this, as it helps to hold the fold nice and firm. When you are done turning under your seam allowance, just peel off your paper and you are ready to stitch your applique to your project!!

4) Freezer Paper Stencils
So, what if you don't want an applique, but want to paint or ink your design onto say, a t-shirt for example?? Well, FP works wonderfully for that too! Just trace your stencil onto the FP and cut out ---

AND here's a bonus tip for ya! I like to use an exacto knife to do this for smoother cutting lines, as working on interior cuts with scissors is a bit tricky, and this little gadget from Fiskars is the BOMB! It fits over your finger and you can really have great control over your cutting--Love it! Then you just take your FP stencil and iron it onto your t-shirt or fabric or whatever and go ahead and apply your paint or ink--remove the paper and WaHLaH! Cute.

5) Stitching lines
I can't tell you how many little wallets I made with crooked flaps before I figured this one out! Make a template from FP of your projects stitching line and iron it onto your project--then just stitch along the line for perfect seams allowances! This is a great way to stitch smaller items and things that have to be perfectly even. And, like I said before, you can re-use these FP templates several times before they won't iron on any more--so this is actually a pretty economical material in the long run.

6) Tracing patterns!

This one is worth it's weight in gold. Really! Any pattern you trace can then be ironed onto your project. No more ruined fabric from mis-marking! You can also embroider or machine stitch right through the paper and remove it after you are done (Yeah, another bonus tip--dampen the paper with a damp washcloth before trying to remove it and it won't pull your stitches out of place!)

Oh, and how do you like my little light box?? I looked at so many expensive light boxes in the art stores and couldn't afford one. One day, while Christmas shopping for the kids, I ran across this Nickelodean one in the children's art section for a whopping $10! LOL And it works like a charm!

OK--that's it for today. I hope I was helpful to you and that you will give the freezer paper a shot, it's really a great help.

I would love to hear any helpful hints or tips you might have too. If you blog them or leave them here in a comment, I will share them next Tuesday.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Julie of OakLeaf Hollow Primitives, the sweet gal who won my little birdy magnet giveaway, did up the nicest blogpost about her prize!! Stop by her blog and see! Then, make sure you click on over to her Etsy shop--she is a VERY talented painter and makes the cutest prim/country little painted items!! She also has a very sweet VINTAGE shop...you may want to check that out as well, some really cute things in there!!

IndiePublic

Etsy Blog Ring

Fun Indie Artists to CheckOut!

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About Me

Hi! My name is Karen, I'm in my 40's, been married 17 years, and am a SAHM to my 2 kids who are now both in their teens. I am a creative soul--been that way from birth! I love cottagey handmade things from old to new. I have opened an Etsy shop-- Misseskwittys.etsy.com-- where I am attempting to share my goodies with the world.